In my career, I have worked with some companies and I was fortunate enough to work with some great people. In my career I have learned a lot from my team and my seniors. My career had been great so far because of them. I still cherish my memories with the team I had worked in past and let me give special mention to the team when I was working in Ooty(India). They were great and I still miss them. Each one of them hold special place in my memories. Though there were only few experiences in my career where I had tough time when new Boss joined in but I remember few incidents where first few months were really hard. Sharing few experiences below:
1) Job Insecurity:
That happens with many of us when a new boss joins in. However, there are time when job insecurity builds up, not because I am not capable but because my new boss decides it on the first day of his joining and what was worse that he decided it because I was already working there and maybe he did not know me. I say that because after three months I was a star employee for the same boss. Without naming anyone or mentioning company name let me share a real life experience. I was working for a company and was about to complete my one year. Appraisals were approaching and there was a sudden change at higher level in management. A new area Manager joined and all department heads were supposed to meet him along with the General Manager. So, as I entered the room my General Manager introduced me and I was expecting him to ask some business related questions. But to my surprise he did not ask any question neither did he directly speak to me. He was talking to the General Manager and I was still sitting there as he started discussing how he would like to hire a new person to head the department. I still remember that day, he was still talking and my entire one year's hard work with that organization flashed in front of me and let me not lie to you, I was feeling terrible and also started considering the possibility of finding new job. However, after 15 days of this incident I received my promotion letter in the same company.
2) Change:
How many of you have experienced it when your new manager who just joined is too excited to change almost everything. Definitely new boss means an opportunity to learn new things but how difficult it becomes when he/she starts finding fault in everything. Even the way you tie your hair. Giving feedback to employee is an important process so understanding your teams becomes important. It becomes very difficult when new boss try to change everything right away. I love to learn new things, we all do but that has to be done in a constructive manner. As a team player getting support is very important therefore, before implementing changes it is very important to build right relationship. I was working in a company where a new boss joined in and we were following a standard operating procedure, he observed it on the day one and told staff not to follow it rather do it other way. Though it was a great suggestion but some of the staffs were not comfortable rather than it being discussed it with them or explaining the motive and pros, they were pushed into it. Even once we experienced when our new boss introduced a practice which was not better than current one and when we tried to explain him our concerns, he felt that we were arguing and not co-operating.
3) I know it all attitude:
I is very difficult to adjust with a boss who pretends to know it all. Team is an integral part of an organization. Listening to your subordinates is equally. No one can run the show alone. Yes! As an subordinate it is very important to respect the new manager because there are some skills that qualifies with as Manager. But, sometimes the manager goes wrong where he/she starts displaying I know it all attitude. There are times when a subordinate can come up with a constructive so a manager needs to take time to understand the new team and not lose a good employee.
4) Previous Organization:
The first experience that I shared was about building job insecurity in employee, this one is somewhat similar but I wanted to share this one separately as it talks about building trust in the team. So I am sharing it here under sub-heading as Previous Organization. As I will conclude this experience you will understand why I named it as "Previous Organization". As I can recall, it was the third day of my new boss with us. We were sorting some documents with him in his Cabin when his phone rang and it was his subordinate from previous organization. I stood up to leave his cabin but he signaled me to sit down and told to continue working. I tried hard not listen but he was taking at a loud tone as if he wanted us to listen the conversation. He even made us realize that how badly his previous company subordinates were missing him and then suddenly he replied in a very proud tone," Wait for some time I will definitely call you. Let me create a position for you. "Same day we were having lunch when he came and pointed out that department seems to be over-staffed, the number needs to be reduced. I don't want to further add anything to this. It is great to share you previous organization experience but at the cost of demotivating your current team. ???
5) Over Friendly Staff:
Over friendly boss can kill the professional environment at workplace. The reason could be anything. The balance at work is very important. I remember one of my boss who was friendly with everyone but knew where to draw the professional line and I remember working with over friendly boss who did not draw that professional line making things difficult for himself.
I have shared few real life experience however I would also like to mention that I was fortunate enough to work with true leaders who taught me a lot. They created an opportunity for me to learn and grow. There was one of my managers who actually taught me a lot about life too.
